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Picturing Energy

( Updated: 08/15/2013 )

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The city of Seoul, South Korea, is illuminated at night. South Korea has warned of serious power shortages amid an expected rise in summer temperatures and as the resources-starved country struggles to keep up with demand after six nuclear plants have gone off-line. Lee Jae-Won/Reuters

Employees at EnerNOC work in the 'mission control' room, or network operations center, at their hub, in Boston, Mass., Aug. 12, 2013. EnerNOC is a data-driver aggregator of energy information working toward more energy efficiency in the world. They have more than 30,000 devices around the world collecting energy use data. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

The Karadeniz Powership Orhan Bey, an electricity-generating ship from Turkey, is docked at the port of Jiyeh, Lebanon, Aug. 13, 2013. The ship will provide electricity to Beirut, a city that suffers from chronic electricity shortages. Sharif Kari/Reuters

A farmer stands under high voltage power lines at a suburban area of Shanghai in this Aug. 19, 2012 photo. China relocated 1.3 million people during the 17 years it took to complete the Three Gorges dam. Carlos Barria/Reuters

An aerial view of a field with wind turbines in Belgium July 19, 2012. Six years ago Capital Stage was a small investment holding company. Today it is a renewable energy utility producing nearly 200 megawatts (MW) of solar and wind power that posted operating earnings of 25 million euros in 2011. Yves Herman/Reuters

An excavator works among solar panels at a solar power plant under construction in Aksu, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, April 5, 2012. US solar panel manufacturers are still optimistic of winning substantial duties on solar panel imports from China, despite an initial US government ruling that many found surprisingly low, the lead attorney for the industry group said. Reuters

In the Cleveland Indians players' parking lot, workers assemble a wind turbine which will be set in place high on Progressive Field's southeast corner, in Cleveland, March 23, 2012. The innovative design is a wind-deflecting structure with small-scale turbines that can generate power at low wind speeds. Amy Sancetta/AP

Visitors pedal bicycles equipped with generators to power a giant light bulb at an interactive art installation titled ‘Dynamo-Fukushima,’ by Yann Toma, at the Grand Palais, Paris. Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters

Team Inno-gen KMITL V.1, from King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang in Thailand, raced in the Shell Eco-marathon in Sepang, Malaysia, last month. The winning entry posted the equivalent of an astonishing 5,200 miles per gallon of gas. Janson Lee Kok Wooi/Shell/AP

Workers unload coal by hand from a supply truck at a market in Noida, outside New Delhi.Parivartan Sharma/Reuters

Picnickers pose by the Sardar Sarovar Narmada dam, in Kavadia, western India. It’s part of a controversial hydroelectric and irrigation project that has been a focus of protesters since the 1980s. Amit Dave/Reuters

A technician is silhouetted as he works on power lines supplying electricity in Karachi, Pakistan. Athar Hussain/Reuters

The Solucar solar park near Seville, Spain, uses giant mirrors to focus the sun’s rays on a steam boiler in a tower, generating 10 megawatts of electricity – enough to power 6,000 homes. It was the first such commercial installation in the world. Marcelo del Pozo/Reuters

A man covers himself with a plastic bag as he rides his electric bicycle amid heavy rains along a street in Hefei, China. Reuters

Austin Mitchell (l) and Ryan Lehto, work on an oil derrick outside of Williston, ND. Many are calling this the biggest oil boom in recent North American history. With housing at a premium for the huge influx of workers, temporary homes – known as "man camps" – now dot the sparse North Dakota landscape. Gregory Bull/AP

Solar-panel arrays like this one in Los Angeles are likely to become more prevalent as consumers seek greener – and, in the long term, they hope cheaper – alternatives to fossil fuels. Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

Manager Bergur Sigfusson of CarbFix inspects a test well at the Hellisheidi geothermal power plant in Iceland. Researchers are trying to separate carbon dioxide from volcanic steam and inject it underground to form limestone, thus removing the greenhouse gas from Earth's atmosphere. Brennan Linsley/AP

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The UN estimates that 1.4 billion people have no access to electricity, hurting their ability to earn a living or educate their children. But connecting to an electric grid may not be the only solution.

Every year, the UN chooses a social or environmental issue of global importance – such as biodiversity (2010) or microcredit (2005) or sanitation (2008) – to bring attention to the issue or issues, and to drive resources toward solving them. This year, 2012, is the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All.